


The One Where They Ride Back to Arkadia and Nothing Bad Happens

by orphan_account



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 09:05:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6073357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>See title. From a prompt I got on a certain board. Clarke and Lexa head out of Polis and have a chat on horseback. Flirting and a fluffy end. AU where Arkadia is not full of morons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One Where They Ride Back to Arkadia and Nothing Bad Happens

At daybreak Polis is quiet and sleepy. Lexa walks from the grassy path from her tower to the stables feeling the dew on her pantlegs and lets herself enjoy the moment. She feels a great sense of peace. Long years of bloody war with the Ice Nation are over at last. Today they would bring the Skaikru the body of Queen Nia. They...

She wonders how Clarke will react to returning to her clan as she looks over the ceremonial wagon that will follow them today. The two guards she had picked to accompany them are waiting. Lexa spends a few minutes tending to her favorite horse. He has carried her through many territories and too many battlefields. Lexa pulls out a small lump of sugar and lets the horse have his own small reward. She will have hers soon enough. A raspy voice returns her to her surroundings.

"Didn't take you for a horsewhisper, Heda."

 

Lexa’s so caught off guard that she doesn’t hold back her laughter. This seems to make Clarke happy, so Lexa smiles at her until one of the guards asks if they’re ready to set off. He seems a bit like he’s seen something amusing himself, so Lexa puts an extra bit of force into her reply in Trigedasleng.

The small convoy moves in silence through the streets of Polis. Lexa assumes Clarke, like her, is watching the people of Polis rouse and bring it to life. Shopkeepers open stalls, parents chase their overly energetic small children, trappers bring in their meats and hides, fishermen gut the fresh catch.

“You love them,” Clarke states, having been watching Lexa instead. The small smile Lexa wears, the way she nods when they call out Heda to her as she passes. The pride on her face as she rides out among them.

“They are my people. Many were lost so they could have this.”

“And what is this, exactly?”

“Safety to live free and happily.”

They exchange a meaningful look as their horses carry them out of the city walls. Lexa knows Clarke understands. Her clan, the Skaikru, have known only insecurity and chaos from the time they landed from space. Today that will change. And then, maybe… Lexa kicks her horse into a fast pace as the green hills open out before them. She goes on for a while before she realizes she’s left two people and the wagon behind.

The guard next to her just shrugs his massive shoulders when she shoots a quizzical look between him and Clarke, the second guard, and the wagon some hundred yards back. She spurs her horse to a sprint and chastises herself for not realizing that Clarke probably doesn’t have much experience in horseriding. She pulls up next to Clarke looking unsure.

“You can ride with me if you would like.”

Clarke considers the offer for a moment before replying with a smirk.

“I can manage, Lexa. I just want to enjoy this journey with you. Let’s go slow enough that we can talk.”

Lexa nods and gives the two guards an order in their native tongue. They retreat out of earshot and the convoy sets back off at a brisk trot.

“It’s not my first time on a horse, for your information.”

Lexa doesn’t get it for a minute before she realizes she had told her guards that Wanheda was not used to riding and for them to follow and let her set the pace.

“You picked up quite a few new words in your wanderings, I see.”

Lexa sees a mix of emotion cross Clarke’s face at the mention of her three months alone and wild before she quips back.

“It was an educational sabbatical, I suppose.”

Lexa lets that sink in for a moment. They move along in silence until Lexa plucks up enough courage to broach the unsaid in Clarke’s reply.

“That’s not what it was, Clarke. I won’t try to tell you why you left your clan, but you came to me full of anger. Not just at me, but at what you had been forced to do. Don’t carry that burden anymore.”

Lexa is relieved to see that Clarke lets a small smile play across her features.

“Another lesson? Or are you still worried about my mental stability?”

“Your mind was never in question, only your heart.”

Clarke slows her horse to a snail's pace and looks Lexa full in the face.

“And what conclusions did you draw from my heart?”

Lexa feels like she’s tip toeing around a massive sinkhole as she swallows and turns away from Clarke’s penetrating stare.

“Several,” she states evasively. Clarke hums in a way as if to draw out more. Lexa rolls her eyes and smiles bashfully.

“Yeah, I thought so,” Clarke laughs and Lexa just laughs with her until they lapse back into silence, not looking at the misty mountains nor watching the path their horses are guiding them on. The guards are long forgotten, but if they were to turn around they’d catch them gazing on with smirks of their own.

“Something tells me you’ve drawn the right conclusions, Lexa.”

Lexa feels the moment shift almost instantly from flirty to something much deeper. She sees the spark of hope in Clarke’s eyes. It’s light and playful, yet dark and seductive. A promise of things to come. And soon, Lexa senses. She’s lost in those eyes until they’re gone in a flash.

Clarke is riding her horse to a full sprint, hunched over it and flying through the wild like Lexa could never have believed. She stays flabbergasted and amazed for only a moment before she chases after her. The promise of a peaceful era where they have time to truly know each others' hearts fueling her along.


End file.
